Celebrating someone's retirement can be a wonderful way to acknowledge years of accomplishment while looking forward to a more personally focused future. Use floral centerpieces to help express these dual goals by combining flowers with easily made flags and banners. Follow the steps below to create floral centerpieces that highlight the special qualities of your retiree while adding to your overall celebratory decor. Instructions follow for a single centerpiece--just multiply them to fill your tables.
Instructions
Making the arrangement
1. Think low and round when making centerpiece arrangements. While you want your arrangement noticed, it should not be so tall as to get in the way of guests seeing each other or visiting across the table. Even if you are using a long, narrow, rectangular container on a long, rectangular table, think round, in the sense that everyone at the table will view the arrangement. An arrangement backed by a wall can have big, soft flowers low at the front, midsized flowers behind them and tall ones at the back. Centerpiece arrangements need big, soft flowers at the bottom of at least two sides, midsized flowers next, then tall ones toward the middle or ends--this way, everyone sitting around the arrangement gets the general effect. For our sample arrangement we will use a round vase--just remember that round refers to what people will see from different points of view in a centerpiece arrangement.
2. Assemble, for our sample, six roses, nine daisies, and six-to-nine stems of stock, dutch iris or other slightly spiky flowers with medium-length stems. You will also need greenery; for our arrangement, get a small bunch of flat fern. As soon as you bring flowers home, cut 1-2 inches off their stems and immerse them in water for at least three hours or as long as overnight to make sure they are fully hydrated.
3. Soak floral foam in water for at least 30 minutes, or according to directions. Secure foam in container. Use floral tape to keep it in place, if necessary; your greens will cover the tape.
4. Begin with greens. Place them in a flat ring around the edges of your container. These determine the size of your centerpiece on the table. If using an oval or rectangular container, use them to extend that shape. Cut greenery all the same length for a formal arrangement or in varying lengths for a more relaxed look.
5. Use roses (your biggest flower) to form the foundation of your arrangement. Cut stems short--3-5 inches long, so that they appear to nestle in the greens. Place one rose, slightly taller, in the center, and surround it with the other five. Angle them so that viewers will look into the center of the rose, rather than seeing it sideways.
6. Cut stock or iris stems to 6-8 inches. These are your tall flowers, but not too tall. Place at angles above roses, clustering around the center rose without hiding it entirely. Your spiky flowers determine the height of your arrangement and can also reinforce the horizontal size established by your greens.
7. Use your midsized daisies to fill in the spaces in your arrangement. Stems need to be 4-6 inches to bridge the gap between your foundation flowers and your tall flowers. The result will be a mound shape with some bits of airspace between flowers--and an interesting view for everyone.
Personalizing the Arrangement
8. Make flags to personalize your arrangement. Cut card stock in rectangular or triangular shapes--or even curvy banners. Mount on skewers or straws using tape or stapler (or fold, cut tiny slits and weave your flags onto your flagpoles).
9. Decorate your flags with your graphics. On one side of each flag, put a bit of the past--the company logo or union seal, a column of figures for an accountant or a bulldozer for someone who operated heavy equipment. On the other side, show what the retiree's future will look like--fishhooks or tied lures for the fisherman, pictures of RVs for the traveler, birdhouses for the builder--whatever the retiree now has time to pursue. If you're not sure of a hobby, finish your flags by writing the retiree's name and the date of the event or a good wish on the future side.
10. Add your flags to your arrangement for that personal touch. Cut your ribbon in lengths an inch or two longer than the diameter of your arrangement to make a quick mat on which to place your arrangement. Lay out your ribbon in a sunburst-style circle on the table and center your container on it--little touches of ribbon color give your arrangement a finished look. You're finished!
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